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Chapter 90
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Long Walk to Freedom, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Division
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress
Nonviolent Protest vs. Violent Protest
The Value of Optimism
Summary
Analysis
Before Christmas in 1986, Lieutenant Colonel Gawie Marx, deputy commander at Pollsmoor, takes Mandela out to see Cape Town. People tend not to recognize Mandela because the last published photo of him was from 1962. Mandela sees the tranquility of the White suburbs, which are oblivious to the conflict going on elsewhere. He believes that the prison authorities are trying to make him get used to life outside prison so that he’ll strike a deal for his freedom.
Mandela’s lack of recent photographs shows how, despite Mandela’s best efforts, the government has in some ways succeeded in minimizing his presence. While the colonel seems to want to show Mandela how well people are living in the White suburbs, Mandela isn’t impressed, because as usual, he disapproves of situations where only some people get rights and privileges.
Themes
